Secondary purchase method for online auction over a communications network

Abstract

A method on a server for providing a secondary purchase method for an auction provided over a communications network, includes: providing an online auction for a seller's item to a plurality of bidders, wherein each of the plurality of bidders provides a bid for the item; selecting a winner of the auction from the plurality of bidders; sending a communication offering the item for a first amount greater than an amount of the winner's bid; receiving payment for the item from a recipient of the communication, wherein payment is for the first amount; sending the seller of the item a payment substantially equal to the winner's bid; sending the winner a payment substantially equal to a difference between the first amount and the winner's bid; and sending a communication to the seller of the item with instructions to send the item to the recipient that paid the first amount.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This patent application claims priority to provisional patent application 61 / 419,816 titled “Secondary Purchase Method for Online Auction Over a Communications network” and filed Dec. 4, 2010. The subject matter of provisional patent application 61 / 419,816 is incorporated herein in its entirety.STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT[0002]Not Applicable.INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC[0003]Not Applicable.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0004]The present invention relates to the field of e-commerce and, more specifically, the present invention relates to the field of electronic auctions offered over a communications network.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0005]Online auctions have enjoyed increasing popularity since the 1990s. Using an auction format to sell an item, as opposed to a fixed price sales regime, has the advantage of quickly being able to establish a reliable equilibrium between the ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011]The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles

Problems solved by technology

Problems, however, arise in translating the traditional live auction format to the Internet environment.

For example, it is common for a bidder to lose an auction because he was not available at the time of completion of the auction, resulting in being outbid by another user.

Once the auction is completed, there is no mechanism available for a losing bidder to purchase the auctioned item from the highest bidder, even if the losing bidder is willing to pay more for the item.

This results in a loss of at least a portion of the fair market value of an item.

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